Richard Chin recently wrote an article about Audio Drama in Minnesota. There is lots of it going on. He mentions Great Northern toward the end, and especially our serial, Permafrost, MN. So we offer up that piece from our archives. (39 minutes.)

The Old Cart Wrangler Audie Nomination

February 4 brought us the news that The Old Cart Wrangler’s Saga is a finalist for the 2019 Audie Awards

from the Audio Publishers Association, in the Original Works Category. Well, it certainly fits in that slot: It’s about as original as they come. Written for audio from the beginning, and the performance by David Ossman was the World Premier of the piece. Great Northern Audio and Otherworld Media were pleased to present it back in June at The Brick, in Kansas City, MO, with eclectic jazz behind the Old Cart Wrangler himself. You know that guy. He’s the one who’s always out there chasing down the stray carts, the ones that are out on the edge of the parking lot looking longingly at the bigger world beyond.Tom Lopez, at ZBS, says —

Takes a lot to impress me, but you did it. I can’t think of anyone better than David Ossman to perform this piece. … It is really really good. Like perfect. And in front of a live audience. Oh yeah, and Dwight’s backing was so nice to hear, very fine indeed. … I have to admit, it’s rare I listen to a piece all the way to the end, but you nailed me in the first minute … maybe seconds.

The sublime jazz backing band was Rev. Dwight Frizzell on woodwinds, Julia Thro on guitar, and Patrick Conway on percussion. Subtle sound effects were from Tony Brewer.

The announcement gala is in early March. We’ll let you know what happens.

This photo of the performance was taken by Phil Proctor, Ossman’s partner in the Firesign Theatre. The disc or download is available from Blackstone Audio’s Downpour site. It includes a half-hour conversation between author Brian Price and David Ossman, talking about the work, the performance, and the Cart Wrangler character.

What We Did On Our Summer Vacation

I mean, besides going to The Brick while in Kansas City, we attended the HEAR Now Festival of Audio Fiction. There we had the delight to present the annual Mark Time Awards, and as the opening to that we staged one of our own audio plays, Dialogue With Martian Trombone. The all-star cast included David Ossman, Phil Proctor, Melinda Peterson, Orson Ossman, Richard Fish, and Donna Postel. You can hear that here.

Convergence 20

In July I went to the 20th Anniversary Convergence science fiction convention in Minneapolis. There I was able to help out with the Big Fun Radio Funtime performance by Fearless Comedy Productions. They were kind enough to invite me to do sound effects for the show, which I was happy to do. They also let us write a sketch for them, so we offered up The Awk Awk Incident, about the dangers of telling the Bird Watchers you’ve seen something rare around your own place. Our thanks to Tim Wick, artistic director at Fearless Comedy, for the opportunity.

World Premiere Performance by David Ossman

The 22nd Annual Mark Time Awards

June 7th, in Kansas City, MO, the HEAR Now Festival will host the presentation of the Mark Time Awards for 2018. The ceremony will include a performance of Great Northern Audio Theatre’s Dialogue with Martian Trombone, starring David Ossman and Philip Proctor, of the famed Firesign Theatre.

All this will take place at 9:00 PM in the Grand Ballroom of the Holiday Inn Country Club Plaza Hotel.

The Mark Time Awards are well known in the field of contemporary Audio Theater for their recognition of the science fiction, fantasy and horror genres. In cooperation with the HEAR Now Festival of Audio Fiction they have expanded to include detective stories, and this year added a comedy category. They are named after the Mark Time character created by the American comedy troupe, the Firesign Theatre, and have been actively supporting audio drama since 1997. Mark Time Awards are given internationally, and have been won by producers from Ireland, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand, Belgium and all across the United States.

The presentation and performance includes a radio play that answers the question of what became of the Ramon Raquello Orchestra, the ones that played at the Meridian Room on Orson Welles’ infamous War of the Worlds broadcast back in 1938. We’ve all wondered about that, and now the whole story can be told. The play was written by Brian Price and Jerry Stearns of the Great Northern Audio Theatre, both Mark Time Grand Master Award winners themselves, and besides Ossman and Proctor features an all-star cast of Melinda Peterson, Richard Fish, Donna Postel and Orson Ossman. It was first performed back in 2004. This production is in conjunction with OtherWorld Media and HEAR Now.

The HEAR Now Festival will run June 7-10, 2018 in Kansas City, and includes many other performances and workshops in the fields of audio storytelling, audiobooks, podcasting, childrens literature, and a celebration of Mark Twain. You can hear more from the Firesign Theatre, too.

Featured in “Villains On Parade”

Chuck McCann was a Guest of Honor at CONvergence in 2010, along with voice actor, Wally Wingert, who was a friend of his. They both agreed to perform in the Mark Time Radio Show, so we wrote something that would make use of their talents, and fit the convention theme, Bring On The Bad Guys. (See #15 on our Mark Time Radio History page.)

We were very sad to hear that Mr. McCann passed away on April 8, 2018. We knew of his friendship with Stan Laurel, and that he was one of the few actors who had ever even tried to mimic both Laurel and Hardy. So we went for that in the radio show script. In the performance everybody was hitting on all cylinders, Chuck and Wally were milking every joke for all it was worth. It’s fun to watch the pros work.

In the photo on the right it’s director Brian Price being mauled by Mr. McCann, musician Eleanor Price in front, Wally Wingert, and Jerry Stearns, producer. Listen to all of Villains On Parade here. It’s about 32 minutes long. Listen especially for the “Lost film commentary” by the orcs from ‘Lord of the Rings’. It’s all about the villains, you see.

New Great Northern release at Blackstone Audio

Over the years while writing, directing, and acting at radio theater workshops and in the Mark Time Radio show performances at Minneapolis' CONvergence science fiction conventions, Brian Price and David Ossman found that they shared a love for classic Beat poetry, Lord Buckley, and prose poems, so they started doing some of their own. This is a collection of their unique hybrid of humor, music, character, and performance.

“Great short stories by one of my favorite writers!” – David Ossman.

Written by Brian Price, except for the one that was written by Brian Price and Jerry Stearns. Performed by David Ossman, except for the one performed by Richard Fish and the one performed by Eleanor Price, and the ones performed by the whole cast.

''You Can't Handle the Truth''CONvergence 2007 - July 6, 2007With Wally Wingert, Windy Bowlsby, Tim Wick, Preston Ossman, Eleanor Price, and David Ossman_________________And since you’ve read this far, it turns out there IS a conclusion to the Cart 437 Trilogy. Coming soon to a website near you.

HEARNow Festival was a Good Time

Brian Price and Jerry Stearns had a good time at the 2017 HEARNow Festival of Audio Fiction in Kansas City, MO. I thought I’d tell you a bit about what we did, and hope it inspires you to attend sometime. Remember, this is only some of the events that we were connected with; there was a LOT more going on than this. You can check their online schedule to see more.

First of all, this was my first chance to actually see the Audie Award we won for Best Audio Drama from the Audio Publishers’ Association, for In The Embers. Brian says the New York TSA took him out of line at the airport because of this oddly shaped and unscanable item in his pack. They opened it up, said “Congratulations”, and sent him on his way.

Thursday

In the evening we did a Best of Audio Fiction presentation, joined by Robin Miles, about our award-winning piece, In The Embers. We got to talk about how it came to be, and about some of the technology that enabled us to put it all together even though few of us live in the same section of the country. We shared the hour with Russell McGee, who is a sound designer for Big Finish’s Dr. Who audio series. He came with a computer presentation, way better prepared than we were. We were able to spend some time with Russell and his wife during the Festival, too.

Friday

Brian went to help out with the Workshop 101 team, teaching about the writing and production of audio theater. Follow the link to hear some of the short works that they completed during the Festival.

Jerry attended a playback session at a local theater - where it is great to be able to hear productions on a BIG excellent sound system and in a room designed for listening. I chose to attend a session presented by two other people who put audio theater actually on the radio. Hosting were Catherine Rinella of Midnight Audio Theater at WCBE in Columbus, Ohio, and Christy Duntan of KZMU community radio in Moab, Utah, who brought us Downtown Abbey. Both shows really fun to hear.

Next Brian and I both hosted a session in the theater called Simon Jones, A Retrospective. He is the original and genuine Arthur Dent of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, accept no substitutes. Technical difficulties threatened to make it a difficult session, but Simon’s good humor made it into a hilarious hour of stories from his illustrious career on stage and in radio, TV, films, and audiobooks.

Dirk Maggs sent in a video from the UK nearly in praise of Simon, as well. This session won 2nd prize as an audience favorite event for the festival. (First Prize went to KC Wayland who presented a chapter from his ongoing podcast series, We’re Alive, earlier that day.)

Friday evening we were able to slip away for dinner at Arthur Bryant’s barbecue restaurant with Simon Jones and his wife, Nancy, Russell McGee and his wife, Elizabeth, and Rich Fish, Tony Brewer and Butch D’Ambrosio.

Saturday

In the afternoon Brian and I were pleased to moderate a session for the Podcast Palooza presenters attending the Festival. This has been an important event for us because it gets all these producers from around the country in the same place to talk and listen to each other about what they are doing, and ways they might be able to do it better. It was well attended, and everybody had something to say, and an attentive audience.

Sunday

This morning is the closing brunch and awards event for the Festival. One of the things that happened here was the presentation of the annual Mark Time Awards. Organizers David Ossman and Judith Walcutt called in via Skype to announce the winners, who were chosen this year from Firesign Theatre’s biggest supporters over the years. Brian and I were asked to read the acceptance speeches from the winners, but Brian had a better idea, and we were able to get Simon Jones to read them – which was WAY better than having us do it. David commented that he’d like Simon to read all their credits in the future.

And the final Big Deal at this ceremony was the presentation of the Norman Corwin Award. Brian and I are greatly honored to have received this award, and especially in conjunction with the Corwin Legacy Award given to Stan Freberg, one of our heroes of audio comedy.

Thank you

We’d like to thank Sue Zizza for being a gracious host to the Festival and to us. Thanks also to David Shinn for technical wizardry at a variety of incompatible venues. And to the NATF committee who somehow thought we were deserving of an award for sticking with something we loved for many years, and having opinions about it.

In The Embers takes the Best Audio Drama Audie Award

June !st the Audio Publishers Association announced the winners in their annual Audie Awards in New York City. We are pleased to say that In The Embers took the prize in the Audio Drama category.

Photo: Brian Price, Paula Poundstone, Robin Miles. > >We’d like to thank the Academy, the Foreign Press Association, our long-suffering families, Tom Lopez, the excellent cast, CONVergence, and librarians all across the country for this great honor. We are pleased to be recognized for something that we loved doing.

Stearns and Price honored with Norman Corwin Award

The founders and moving spirits behind the Great Northern Audio Theatre have been chosen to receive the 2017 Norman Corwin Award for Excellence in Audio Theatre. Based in the Midwest, Great Northern Audio Theatre creates its own unique brand of lighthearted, whimsical, and comic original stories that evoke the inventiveness of Firesign Theatre and the sophistication of golden-age radio producer, Norman Corwin. Working with Minnesota's premier Sci-Fi convention, Minicon (later moved to CONvergence), Jerry and Brian created live shows each year to the delight of con-goers, embracing – and extending, and often satirizing – the Science Fiction genre. Their motto says it all:

“Ours is not to create the machines of the future. Ours is to make fun of them when they break down.”

They have also created many excellent studio productions, and their work is not always comic. It can be pointed, ingenious, and dramatic, crossing genres and offering new viewpoints on modern life. To give just a few examples, Tumbleweed Roundup turned a Western story on its head with a wild cowboys-and-aliens encounter; Drummer's Dome explored generational realities and perceptions; Solid State University took a look at education as it was, is, and might become (winning the Golden Reel Award from the National Federation of Community Broadcasters); Dialog With Martian Trombone ingeniously revealed the real extra-terrestrial invasion that was covered up by Orson Welles' famous broadcast; and In The Embers – a truly classic original story of music, memory, and time and was mastered at the legendary ZBS studios – has won an Audie Award for Best Audio Drama. . The Norman Corwin Award for Excellence in Audio Theatre, given annually by The National Audio Theatre Festivals (NATF), is the premier American recognition of lifetime achievement, regardless of media, in the field of audio theatre. It was instituted May 3, 2010, on Norman Corwin's 100th birthday. The first Award was given to Mr. Corwin himself, who is considered the Grand Master of American radio theatre.

In The Embers is an Audie Award Finalist

The Audio Publishers Association announced the finalists for the 2017 Audie Awards on February 8th, and Great Northern’s In The Embers is included as a finalist in the Audio Drama category, and in the Original Work category. We’re very pleased by this event. The Audies are given each year for the best in audiobooks, and for the narrators who perform them.

In The Embers available from Blackstone Audio

A review in AudioFile Magazine announced when In The Embers was released by Blackstone Audio on their Downpour website. We are very pleased to be published by Blackstone, one of the leading audio publishers with an ear for audio theater. You can also find In The Embers as a download in the ZBS online catalog.

The Blackstone release includes three original songs integral to the story and a 70-minute In The Embers - The Making Of documentary created especially for Blackstone. The song lyrics were written by Brian Price and sung by Robin Miles, with music performed by Mike Wheaton. (In The Embers, My Columbine, and My Gorgeous Boy.) The documentary consists of commentary from the writers and producers, and interviews with the actors, musical composer, and producer Tom Lopez of ZBS. We also introduced the two actresses who played the grownup versions of the two sisters at the center of this story, Robin Miles and Jacquie Maddix, on KFAI radio recently. The two had not met until we brought them together on Sound Affects to talk about their roles.

The Twin Cities Geek website posted a review of In The Embers, written by Kelly Starsmore. You can read the whole review at twincitiesgeek.com. She says, “In the Embers is one for the ages and something that I will come back to time and time again.” We’re glad she liked it, and we hope you will get yourself a copy and give it a listen, too. You can see more here at Great Northern Audio. It’s available for download from ZBS.org and at Blackstone Audio’s Downpour site. In the Twin Cities you can get compact discs of the show at Uncle Hugo’s SF Bookstore, and at Dreamhaven Books.

Oh, and there’s a 60-minute documentary on The Making of In The Embers that includes interviews with the producers, the actors, and the musician, and a few comments from our mentor, Tom Lopez of ZBS. It’s entertaining as well as having something to say about the making of modern audio theater. There’s a link to the documentary on the ZBS home page, and it’s free.

And since we’re speaking of ZBS, they also have links to some new podcasts all about ZBS’s use of binaural sound recording. There are already several episodes up there, so lots to listen to, including complete ZBS stories, and some examples of ambient binaural recording that is full of fun and wonder. Narrated by Meatball Fulton. To get the full effect of binaural be sure to listen using headphones.

Sound Affects: A Radio Playground, on community radio KFAI in Minneapolis, is broadcasting another ZBS project, The Fourth Tower of Inverness, the very first Jack Flanders adventure. There are a few episodes each Sunday evening at 9:30 PM through June, on 90.3 FM and 106.7 FM in the Twin Cities, and streaming live at KFAI.org. Archives of the show are kept for two weeks, so don’t hesitate to listen now.

Mark Time Awards finalists posted

Annnnd, since we are on the subject of modern audio theater, there is a list of the latest finalists in this year’s Mark Time Awards competition posted. Take a look at them at marktimeawards.org. Some good new works in the genre’s of science fiction, fantasy, and detectives. The winners will be announced on June 9th in Kansas City, MO, at the HearNow Festival of Audio Fiction, and presented by David Ossman. The Mark Time Awards are a legacy project of the Firesign Theatre celebrating the best in modern audio drama.

Available now from ZBS

Great Northern’s newest feature-length audio production, In The Embers, is available now from the ZBS Catalog. Downloads include the 80-minute production in 320 kbps resolution, and a PDF CD cover image suitable for printing.

In The Embers coming from Blackstone Audio

A new review in AudioFile Magazine announces that In The Embers will be released by Blackstone Audio on their Downpour website on December 8th. We are very pleased to be published by Blackstone, one of the leading audio publishers with an ear for audio theater.

This new release includes three original songs integral to the story and a 70-minute In The Embers - The Making Of documentary created especially for Blackstone in cooperation with Waterlogg Productions. The documentary consists of commentary from the writers and producers, and interviews with the actors, musical composer, and producer Tom Lopez of ZBS.

Great Northern Audio Collection Boxed Set

Blackstone also carries the entire Great Northern Audio Collection in a Boxed Set of 18 stories, including many from the celebrated Mark Time Radio Shows. You can get them individually or all together as downloads or on CD or MP3 CD. You can even rent them if you just want to see what this silliness is all about.

These are whimsical and original tales of science fiction and fantasy, featuring the voices of Firesign Theatre members David Ossman and Phil Proctor, and well known Hollywood actors Chuck McCann and Wally Wingert along with the superbly comic regular cast. The tales include Tell Them NAPA Sent You, about wizards, dwarfs and auto parts; Dialogue With Martian Trombone, the real story behind the Ramone Raquello Orchestra featured on Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds broadcast; The Jewels of the 11th Generation, a tale of a 300-year-old starship, kids, space pirates, and squeaky toys; and much more audio fun.

Independent Feature-length Audio release

Great Northern Audio is pleased to announce In The Embers, our new feature-length audio play which premiered at the HEAR Now Audio Fiction Festival in Kansas City last week. Stay tuned as we prepare several avenues for distribution of this exciting audio experience.

Urban archaeologist Digger Morgan has this new technique using a laser to read what’s embedded in the charcoal of a burned wooden post. He doesn’t expect to find voices. It’s two girls who were in the barn when the post was burned, and now he wants to know who they are. He also doesn’t expect it when one of those voices starts talking to him from his computer. Kit Jeffers was an up-and-coming jazz singer in the 1920s, and now she’s asking him just as many questions as he’s asking her. She’s smart, she’s sassy and saavy, and she wants to go home. Good science fiction, engaging characters, original music and terrific sound design make this well worth listening to.

A brand new audio play from Great Northern Audio, starring Robin Miles as Kit Jeffers, and Edwin Strout as Digger. With original songs by Brian Price and Mike Wheaton. Mixed at the ZBS studios in upstate New York, with Tom Lopez. CDs are available online currently through Uncle Hugo’s SF Bookstore and Dreamhaven Books.

“The story is excellent, the music is excellent, the audio quality is excellent, and so are the actors. This is a drama that goes in the permanent collection.”See this recent review of In The Embers by Scott Danielson of SFFaudio.com. – – –

New Mark Time Awards

And while we were there at the HEAR Now Festival, we shared a Second Place Audience Favorite Award for the presentation of the new Mark Time Awards. Brian Price and Jerry Stearns played excerpts of this year’s winners in the mornng, and Judith Walcutt produced the Mark Time Awards presentation ceremony on Friday evening, with David Ossman doing the honors. See the Mark Time Awards website for a complete list. It was probably the kids from the Paseo Academy of Fine and Performing Arts, who wrote and performed their own work that won the audience over, though. So they really should have this award.

It was the first year for the new Nick Danger Prize for best detective/suspense audio theater, and we are sad to pass on that the real Nick Danger, Phil Austin of the Firesign Theatre, passed away on Thursday, June 18, just the day before the prize with his likeness on it was given out. Here’s the LA Times obituary.

Turner Ashbey, Chapter 24

Writer, historian and former ambassador to the Great State of Colorado, Turner Ashbey looks back at his life including his on and off again relationship with resistance leader, Laze Fitzgerald.

Chapter 24

Those old personal tracking memory chips were nothing but a pain in the rear. Turner and Laze's chips have flipped and now they are in each other's heads. How muc4 room is in there?The Recollections of Turner Ashbey, Chapter 24(14 minutes, 10 MB)

Great Northern audio productions being broadcast and podcast

Starting Friday, March 27, four Mark Time Radio Shows will be broadcast on the Midnight Audio Theatre, which comes out of WCBE in Columbus, OH. The show is on at Midnight, so it’s actually Saturday mornings, but there we are. They will be playing four of our works over the next four weeks. You can go to the source and listen to the stream at http://wcbe.org/, or you can pick it up on their podcast anytime at http://midnightaudiotheatre.com. We thank them for supporting the audio medium, and for playing our stuff for you. Here’s the schedule of what’s playing when:

AND our recent production, Cyber Bob and the Digital Nymph, is the current offering on the greatRadio Drama Revival podcast, Episode 408. This is the Last Mark Time Radio Show, with David Ossman returning to the raucous stage for the farewell performance of this long-running series. (See the history of the series.) Thanks to Fred Greenhalgh for throwing one of ours up against the wall of sound. And thanks for David Farquhar for making several more of our works available for listening at the Moonlight Audio Theatre podcast as well. Some of them are free to hear, and some others are in their Premium Episodes list. Either way it’s another way to listen to the Great Northern Audio Theatre brand of new and different audio. Our Three Wizard Tales collection is one of their Top 25 Free Shows. So, have at it.

Interview

Jerry was interviewed recently by Stuart Flynn for his science fiction blog: SCY-FY: THE BLOG OF S. C. FLYNN. Take a look at http://wp.me/p4T72p-fc. See what he has to say about podcasting and his radio show, Sound Affects, and about the work that Great Northern Audio has been doing for 20 years.

HEAR Now Festival

We at Great Northern Audio are planning to be at the National Audio Theatre Festivals HEAR Now Festival the weekend of June 11-14. If you’re interested in audio theater, audiobooks or other kinds of audio storytelling, this is the place to come. There will be lots to listen to, lots of interesting people to talk with about audio fiction, and presentation of the new Mark Time Awards for audio drama. Find out more at http://www.hearnowfestival.org.

Turner Ashbey, Chapter 23

Writer, historian and former ambassador to the Great State of Colorado, Turner Ashbey looks back at his life including his on and off again relationship with resistance leader, Laze Fitzgerald.

Chapter 23

Turner finds himself drowning in the sands of West Texas and he has stumbled upon the Fair Liza Fair, but is the Fair Liza Fest just a simple Fertility Rite or something more?The Recollections of Turner Ashbey, Chapter 23(15 minutes, 11 MB)

In the Embers

Yes, we’re working on a new piece called In the Embers. It concerns audio archaeology, a 1920s jazz singer, and quantum tunneling. I know, that’s a bit obscure, but we don’t want to give it all away. Let’s say it has some terrific characters, some very interesting science fiction ideas, and lots of great sound. We’ve been working on it for a year and a half, and now we are assembling the voices and sound effects, and some original music. We’ll be turning to the top-of-the-field engineers at ZBS for the final mix next month. We expect a release date in June.

We are working very hard not to sound like what you have heard before. It’s not old time radio. It’s not the latest comic book loud-in-your-face style soundscape. It’s more an Independent Film style, with good acting, real music, and thoughtful sound design to bring the story to your ears.

Interview

Jerry was interviewed recently by Stuart Flynn for his science fiction blog: SCY-FY: THE BLOG OF S. C. FLYNN. Take a look at http://wp.me/p4T72p-fc. See what he has to say about podcasting and his radio show, Sound Affects, and about the work that Great Northern Audio has been doing for 20 years.

HEAR Now Festival

We at Great Northern Audio are planning to be at the National Audio Theatre Festivals HEAR Now Festival the weekend of June 11-14. If you’re interested in audio theater, audiobooks or other kinds of audio storytelling, this is the place to come. There will be lots to listen to, lots of interesting people to talk with about audio fiction, and presentation of the new Mark Time Awards for audio drama. Find out more at http://www.hearnowfestival.org.

The Partial Secret Untold History and Production Notes of The Mark Time Radio Show

As Produced by Great Northern Audio Theatreby Brian PriceIntroduction:

Last July Jerry Stearns and I wrote and produced the last Mark Time Radio Show (Cyber Bob and Digital Nymph starring David Ossman), performed at CONVergence 2014 in Bloomington, MN. We didn’t think much about it. We just did the show (a month or so of developing the script over Skype, casting the usual suspects, one-and-a-half rehearsals, a half cue-to-cue and then hitting the stage in front of 500-600 people). We didn’t discuss that we’d come down to having produced 19 years of science fiction satire shows together. But I was thinking—well, that’s a body of work. That’s a lot of stuff.

I don’t think either of us has listened back to the entire canon, one after another from beginning to end. I don’t think anybody has. I wondered if all those shows sounded any good? Did they make any sense? Did they march off into some greater cosmic scheme? Most importantly, did they make anybody laugh? They were supposed to make people laugh.

So, I’ve decided to try a little exercise and listen back to each Mark Time Radio Show (listening to one per day for the next 19 days, starting November 18, 2014) like I’ve never heard them before, and then comment on each one, say what I liked, what I would’ve done differently, what I remembered, soulfully thank every actor that ever lent their precious time and talent to the show and quote maybe some favorite lines.

Cyber Bob and the Digital Nymph

Yes, we’re sad to say this was the last dangerous Mark Time Radio Show. We’ve been doing them for 17 years, and it’s time to move on. ● This time David Ossman of the Firesign Theatre returns one last time to the live raucous stage to play Cyber Bob, who leaves his position as cart-wrangler at the Mart to lead a digital expedition into the digital glade in search of the beautiful yet elusive Digital Nymph. There's a history between the two, and they are not playing...well, they are playing games...and when the Nymph asks, "Do you want to take the leap?" There's only one answer for an old campaigner like Cyber Bob. (See more...)

Also on the playlist is A DAY AT THE LIBRARY where they answer that electric question, "What would be the first thing you'd make with a 3D printer?" A 1958 Ford Edsel, of course. We also find there are other things we can make to enhance our 3D lives.

Both pieces recorded live before a very appreciative geeky audience at Convergence 2014, Bloomington, MN. We give heartfelt thanks to the convention for their support all these years. Especially we thank the Main Stage crew and the ASL interpreters for helping to make the shows possible. We’ve had a terrific ensemble cast, and some great guest stars over the years. We hope you’ve had as much fun listening to them.

Available for download at ZBS. To be broadcast on Sound Affects on December 7, 2014.

Turner Ashbey, Chapter 19

Writer, historian and former ambassador to the Great State of Colorado, Turner Ashbey looks back at his life including his on and off again relationship with resistance leader, Laze Fitzgerald.

Chapter 19

Turner wakes up in a horse-drawn ambulance and is accused of having been part of the plot to assassinate Fair Liza and is rescued by her at the same time. Stuff that dreams are made of...The Recollections of Turner Ashbey, Chapter 19(15.5 minutes, 11 MB)

Turner Ashbey, Chapter 17

Writer, historian and former ambassador to the Great State of Colorado, Turner Ashbey looks back at his life including his on and off again relationship with resistance leader, Laze Fitzgerald.

Chapter 17

The Somerset, Kentucky Irregulars (and we're talking irregular) believe that they have cornered Fair Liza in a cave in the hills. Turner is hoping to get there first.The Recollections of Turner Ashbey, Chapter 17(18 minutes, 13 MB)

Decoder Ring Theatre’s Summer Showcase Carries On Peter Galaxy

Decoder Ring Theatre is proud to present Mark Time Show Time, a Showcase series celebrating scripts originally written for live performance by Great Northern Audio, in conjunction with the awards ceremony of the Mark Time and Ogle Awards.

We are so pleased to be able to hear what some other people do with the story we wrote for a Mark Time Radio Show. Originally it featured David Ossman of the Firesign Theatre, and Michael Sheard, a popular Brit who appeared in Star Wars and Dr. Who.

They have planned six of these Mark Time scripts, so be sure to head over to Decoder Ring Theatre every couple of weeks this Spring for a reprise of silly sci-fi. You can find more about each one on its own page on this site.

Turner Ashbey, Chapter 16

Writer, historian and former ambassador to the Great State of Colorado, Turner Ashbey looks back at his life including his on and off again relationship with resistance leader, Laze Fitzgerald.

Chapter 16

A song about Fair Liza, The Saint of Reunification. Liza waited quietly by the side of the road and would not let them take that orphan boy. “Fair Liza lay in wait and she smote them.” But what does that mean? Fair Liza and the song seem to have a basis in the recent history of the Sundered States. The Recollections of Turner Ashbey, Chapter 16(15 minutes, 10.4 MB)

Yes, it’s true!

The Great Northern Audio Theatre is finally on Facebook and Twitter. We had to bring on Kris Markman, our new Director of Communications and Media, to do it since none of the rest of us even thought to look.

Speaking of community: Feeling a little under the weather? We recommend just a single bottle of Rosenblat's Native Restive Oil and Elixir. Listen to a brand new piece called, Common Side Effects, starring Barbara Rosenblat and Sande Sherr, written by Barbara R. and Brian Price for VoiceScapes Audio Theater.

Turner Ashbey, Chapter 15

Writer, historian and former ambassador to the Great State of Colorado, Turner Ashbey looks back at his life including his on and off again relationship with resistance leader, Laze Fitzgerald.

Chapter 15

History has changed. Maps have changed. The tides have changed. Turner and his friends enter the Realm of Kentucky and Turner ends up working for the Duke of Lexington's daughter. The Recollections of Turner Ashbey, Chapter 15(18.5 minutes, 13.4 MB)

and The COMPLETE MARK TIME RADIO SHOW COMPLETE BUNDLE - (was $59.42) -- 15 years of science fiction satire and lunacy performed on a live stage in front of a live audience for just $52.95. That includes 14 shows plus a number of audio shorts.

Here´s what some of Mark Time´s favorite professional guest performers have had to say:

"The collection of CDs you guys have done over the years at the Con embody some of my favorite live performances (and the few opportunities to play in other writers´ work!)" -- David Ossman (Firesign Theatre)

Yeah, we do make them available for sale, but all of these have been on many peoples’ podcasts for years, so it’s not like they aren’t out there to find. This is just the high-quality audio files with a CD cover PDF file included.While we’re on the subject of ZBS, we’re broadcasting their latest Jack Flanders story, Dreams of Tiffany Blue, on Sound Affects: A Radio Playground on KFAI community radio. It’s January 5 and 12, 2014. If you missed one, they’re kept in the archive on the KFAI website for two weeks.

AND, a wonderful ZBS series called Saratoga Springs is being made available for listening by the online news-site, Saratoga Wire, along with a nice writeup about Tom Lopez, the talent behind everything ZBS. And finally, all the Mark Time Radio Show CDs are available at Uncle Hugo’s Science Fiction Bookstore, in Minneapolis, including the latest ones - Jokes in Space with VIllains on Parade, and Thwack That Dirigible with SpaceGirl, which aren’t available on CD anywhere else. CDs specially made for Uncle’s.

Turner Ashbey, Chapter 11

Writer, historian and former ambassador to the Great State of Colorado, Turner Ashbey looks back at his life including his on and off again relationship with resistance leader, Laze Fitzgerald. Turner and Laze Fitzgerald are saved from a drone attack when all the drones mysteriously drop out of the sky. Laze says they all need to leave their safe haven at the underground Library, and Turner escapes from further attacks, but hates to leave Laze behind.

Turner Ashbey, Chapter 10

Writer, historian and former ambassador to the Great State of Colorado, Turner Ashbey looks back at his life including his on and off again relationship with resistance leader, Laze Fitzgerald. Young Turner and Laze Fitzgerald are working in an intelligence library when the power goes out. Laze tells him a secret about herself, and she says he must come with her because “they” are coming.

Joe Bev to broadcast Great Northern Audio

The estimable Joe Bevilacqua will be broadcasting several works of the Great Northern Audio Theatre on his online radio show at Cult Radio A-Go-Go. These will be about once a month on Saturdays, beginning this Saturday, April 20th.

What if a citadel of higher education was completely automated? Great Northern's Solid State University will be featured this Saturday, April 20, 2013 on The Joe Bev Experience. (http://www.joebev.com/) That’s at 3 PM EDT and 12 Noon PDT.

Written and produced long before computers started showing up in classrooms, just about everything in this academic send-up ended up coming true. Featuring Dan Coffey (Dr. Science himself), Dave Moore and Jerry Stearns. Winner of the Golden Reel Award for Best Radio Drama for 1993 from the National Federation of Community Broadcasters.

Joseph Bevilacqua's website is entertaining, informative and goofy–a wonderful mix and just the kind of place to hear SOLID STATE UNIVERSITY – hope you have time to visit. And listen in for other Great Northern Audio works in the coming months.

The Spontoon Islands are in a cartoon world between 1920-40, inhabited by furry animal cartoons and seaplanes. Artists from all over the world contribute art, strips and stories to the shared universe. E. O. Costello contributes radio scripts evocative of the time and place, filled with original characters and sounding like a cross between Old Time Radio and the Sunday Comics.

Rosie’s Place is LuChow’s, the spot where every fur goes for lunch on Meeting Island. “It’s Shot From Guns” is about Rosie, when she hires dimbulb brothers B’onss and K’nutt to do laundry for the restaurant. B’onss powers the washer with an airplane engine, showing the consequences of stupidity as a way of life. The usual characters show up at Rosie’s lunch counter, too.

The Headline Chaser is Michael Mooney, a new reporter for the Spontoon Mirror. In “If You Can’t Stand the Heat”, when his minkess friend tells him about local restaurants losing food right off the loading docks, he knows there’s a story there. He’s a reporter, he can’t help himself. He has to investigate. Featuring Simon Jones (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) as publisher Charles Foster Crane.

Turner Ashbey, Chapter 8

Writer, historian and former ambassador to the Great State of Colorado, Turner Ashbey looks back at his life including his on and off again relationship with resistance leader, Laze Fitzgerald. Turner and Laze Fitzgerald talk about the recent history of the Republic of Texas and how everyone was afraid of what it meant. They have an afternoon of feeling relaxed and free, and suddenly discover that they aren’t as alone up there on the mountain as they had thought they were.

Turner Ashbey, Chapter 7

Writer, historian and former ambassador to the Great State of Colorado, Turner Ashbey looks back at his life including his on and off again relationship with resistance leader, Laze Fitzgerald. Turner and Laze Fitzgerald talk about the recent history of the Republic of Texas and how everyone was afraid of what it meant. They have an afternoon of feeling relaxed and free, and suddenly discover that they aren’t as alone up there on the mountain as they had thought they were.

Turner Ashbey, Chapter 6

Writer, historian and former ambassador to the Great State of Colorado, Turner Ashbey looks back at his life including his on and off again relationship with resistance leader, Laze Fitzgerald. Turner finds Laze Fitzgerald, talks about a billionaire who bought a state government, and the beginning of the dissolution of the former United States.

Mark Time Radio Bundles from ZBS

This year marks the 15th anniversary of the coveted Mark Time Awards—the only awards given annually to honor the best in science fiction and fantasy audio theater. (Meatball Fulton has a lifetime achievement award from Mark). Each year Jerry Stearns and Brian Price of Great Northern Audio Theatre have celebrated the celebration by writing and producing their own ridiculous sci-fi satires performed before a live audience just preceding the awards ceremonies. These silly shows have always been well received and under distributed.

But right now you can download them ALL from the fine folks at ZBS. All highest quality audio at 320 kbps, with PDF covers and liner notes.

- $ 59.42 ($91 originally)For the first time ever—the compete package of Mark Time shows in one place for one low price. Space travel, time travel, kids, monsters and inflatable dreams—no subject was left unscathed—though we promise few Tribbles were harmed during the recording of these shows.

David Ossman of the legendary Firesign Theatre and in reality, Mark Time himself, was often on hand to celebrate the celebration. His talented friends and compatriots, Phil Proctor and Melinda Peterson, made wonderful appearances as well. Besides, if Santa Claus lived in outer space he probably would look and sound a little bit like Mark Time.

Over the years Mark Time has played host to some wonderful guest stars: Michael Sheard (Admiral Ozzel of Stars Wars), the grand dame of fantasy—Jane Yolen, the Voice of the Tonight Show—Wally Wingert, and the amazing voice talent Chuck McCann (CooCoo for Coco Puffs).

SpaceGirl: Downloading the Legacy

The Mark Time Radio Show at Convergence 2012 was a huge bit of fun. We had a terrific cast, lots of sound effects, and an enthusiastic audience. We marked the convention theme of “Wonder Women: women in science fiction” with a female heroine played by the fabulous Melinda Peterson. And we celebrated the 15th Anniversary of the Mark Time Awards with two members of the Firesign Theatre in the cast; David Ossman and Philip Proctor always add performance excellence to a production.

SpaceGirl

Linda Kim Shelmerdine discovered her powers as a teenager, when she was a turmoil of solar and hormonal flares. Now she occasionally feels her age, and she’s tired of the way everyone seems to perceive of superheroes saving the world, always in it for themselves. Meet Dr. Creep, the Super Villain, and Senator Mulder Hack, chair of the joint joint sub-sub-committee, and the magnificent Hungarian Dwarf Parade, who are watching over SuperGirl’s personal affairs.

TURNER ASHBEY, Chapter 2

The year is 2096 and the 82 year-old Turner Ashbey has seen a lot in the turbulent 21st century: The rising oceans, the Eastern Migration, the Stay Put, the Tax Indentures and of course, the collapse and dissolution of the United States Federal Government into fifty-three "ephemeral nations" as Ashbey liked to call them. Writer, historian and former ambassador to the Great State of Colorado, Turner Ashbey looks back at his life including his on and off again relationship with resistance leader, Laze Fitzgerald, in this Audio Novel by Brian Price.

Brought to you and produced by Great Northern Audio Theatre. A new chapter is planned to be released every two to four weeks.

TURNER ASHBEY, Chapter 1

The year is 2096 and the 82 year-old Turner Ashbey has seen a lot in the turbulent 21st century: The rising oceans, the Eastern Migration, the Stay Put, the Tax Indentures and of course, the collapse and dissolution of the United States Federal Government into fifty-three "ephemeral nations" as Ashbey liked to call them. Writer, historian and former ambassador to the Great State of Colorado, Turner Ashbey looks back at his life including his on and off again relationship with resistance leader, Laze Fitzgerald, in this Audio Novel by Brian Price.

Brought to you and produced by Great Northern Audio Theatre. A new chapter is planned to be released every two to four weeks.